Hey Mom,

It sounds like the gym is doing well for you guys! I think working out has been going well for me too... Since its over 15 pounds now hahaha Bass Pros sounds fun. We went to a store called Mahoneys and it is like bass pros!! SO awesome! Tried to contact people there but it didnt work. I was too in shock with the selection of Kimbers and the sight of a 338 Lapua. Also the GoPros look so awesome.

I am a Zone Leader in Knoxville East. Our Zone has 18 missionaries. Missionaries report to the District Leader, District Leaders report to Zone Leaders, then Zone Leaders report to the Assistants. We went on an exchange with the Assistants this week and that was a lot of fun. I was with Elder Mumm and hes a great missionary. It is getting colder here but im learning how to deal with the cold. Thats the reason why its nice to wear a suit to church. We also had our zone meeting on tuesday and that went really well. We are emphasizing finding and how we can improve our finding skills.

Tennessee is a beautiful area and Its nice to talk to other people that have the same views as you. They hope California goes under water too... no offense haha

This week was pretty busy and awesome since the members are really opening up to us. Everyone offers to feed us and help us in any way possible. I am thankful for that and for the people we are trying to teach. We need more people to teach so that is our goal to fill up our time with teaching!

Alright have a great week!!

Love,
Elder Eli Dahlin

In America! How do I rotate this picture?

Hey Mom!

Sounds like a lot is going on but its a lot different with Sophia gone. Im glad she's doing well and working hard! It will be fun to have a little more time at home so im excited for that and to test out the new workout room!! We finished off today with doing ring dips and holds. Ill be very happy to hear what President Kirkham had to say, he has done a lot for me and helped me be a good missionary. I want to shoot a Mountain Lion!

Well this week was full. We did a lot of preparation for Zone Meeting which is tomorrow so we are excited to instruct and see how that goes. Teaching has been fun and its been nice to teach some investigators. The family we are teaching is doing well and we hope to see them at church this Sunday. Teaching is refined here but when we do teach it is very nice. We had Stake Conference this weekend and we also went on an exchange with the Watauga District Leader. It was a lot of fun since I was able to go with Elder Conners who is the only other Elder from Liberia that came to Tennessee. So it was just fun to talk and to work hard in our new white people areas. Bikes are no fun at all. . . So far I have gained 15 pounds since I have been here. Im not sure if thats just the food or im exercising more. . . But its great! I guess I can eat a lot now haha

Its been great learning how to share the gospel with everyone here and being able to get out and do the work. I think there is a lot of potential for everyone here and if we just make the effort there will be miracles. We had a meeting with the Stake President and Mission President yesterday and it was nice to see where they wanted us to focus and how we can work more effectively together to bring people into the Church. There is a lot to think about and I am grateful that the leaders of the Church are inspired and help us see the vision of the Church and vision of the eternities. Its not easy to view a single assignment as progression in the church as a whole but when everyone is being told to make the same action there will be a reaction throughout the world. So when we chose to follow the leadership we are choosing to follow Jesus Christ and his direction.

I love you!!

Love,
Elder Elias Dahlin

Hey Mom,

Hmm I guess I havent really described how its like here in Tennessee! The weather is really nice. Everyone says its a little too humid but I still get cold sometimes and I always wear my sweats around the apartment. I bought the sweats with the money grandma sent me! Thanks Grandma. It does rain here like it did in Liberia, all of the sudden heavy rain fall. Its pretty awesome. So we cook when we dont have a dinner appointment but usually we have members that invite us over for dinner every night, we have an amazing ward that takes care of us. By January of next year this mission will have Ipads and we will be teaching and fellowshipping through facebook and instagram... I think ill leave before it gets to that haha.

So this week has been amazing for teaching. We have been contacting referrals from a fair and we have had so much success with it. Most people dont want to talk to us but when we go to the house and they close the door we just contact around the house. We taught a family for the first time on Sunday and they are great. I feel super welcome and am excited to go back. We also have been talking with more and more people so we have a lot more potential investigators. Its funny how nice some people can be and then the opposite where people try to talk to us through their doors haha but we just laugh about that. Actually I want to kick down doors and throw the gospel at people but im pretty sure thats illegal here so I dont haha.

Anyway, the work is so much more exciting when you have some one to teach and to listen to you. The hardest part of the work here is finding but our fast really helped us out. We are thankful for special blessings when we ask for them.

Its crazy Sophia is at college :( Tell her not to pass me in credits so I can still seem like her big brother!! Its been great talking to members about the military here so I am gaining a base of what I want to get into. Brother Vela had us do a wod called Murphy. Named after a fallen soldier. Its 1 Mile to start, then 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, and 300 air squats. Then another mile to finish it off and we had to do it in under an hour. Pretty awesome workout that will light you up. Its good to get back into working out.

I would love to come home and all but one more week means one more chance to baptize and teach so ill come home the 18th. Ill let President know today. Also, I still have not figured out what I need to do to get my DMV report.

I love you!! Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Dahlin

From: Elias Dahlin <elias.dahlin@myldsmail.net>

Date: September 8, 2014 9:58:21 AM PDT

To: "Stan & Deb Dahlin" <debdahlin@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: Hi

Hello Mom!!

Well this week was awesome. We had Mission Council and learned a lot about finding and teaching so im excited to try and implement that. Will you get my DMV stuff to them? Sorry if its a hassle since we already did that. 

I have been hearing different things about Ebola. Sounds like its in Kenya now? Some people were nervous to touch me when I first came here. A lot of people would try to keep their kids away from me but its gotten a lot better. I asked the Bishopric to let me speak but it will be in October. It is better to send the boxes to the mission office which is the address I gave you. We just got transfer news and my companion and I are staying together! Wooh. 

The work is going forward here. We just fasted as a mission for finding and member missionary work and each one of us bore our testimonies on Sunday. It was a great experience and everyone seemed to talk about missionary work! I love the ward here and everyone is welcoming. Its a different balance but im figuring it out. Thank you for all your prayers and thank you for being so supportive of me! I love you and know that ive changed a lot because of this work.

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Elias Dahlin

Teaching in Tennessee

Hey mom,

Sophia is too small for college! Dont let her go!! haha Just kidding. She will have a lot of fun working hard. 

Well even if I ate everything fried here I would still be more healthy than I was in Liberia. . .

Tomorrow we are going to teach seminary and then drive for a few hours to get to Mission Council. Pretty much thats all we will have time to do tomorrow but im excited to see how we do it here. Yesterday we taught the 3rd hour of church and I thought it went really well. We talked about missionary work and made sure everyone understood their responsibility to preach the gospel. I love instructing. We have been contacting a lot of referrals from the fair and so far we have had a few successful tries. Lots of people say they are not interested and thats ok. We are looking for the ones that are prepared for the gospel!

Well, not too many people taught this week. We dropped our one investigator and so we hope this week we will set some baptismal dates with the referrals we have talked to.

Have a great week!

Love,

Eli